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The European Union's defence industry requires a major increase in private investment due to the evolving geopolitical landscape. The emergence of new EU defence exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold shares in the underlying companies could encourage this investment and provide EU defence firms with dearly needed capital.

New methods are now available for processing mined metal ores that produce essentially no pollution compared to existing techniques. The large-scale development of these methods would allow EU mines to reopen, greatly contributing to EU sovereignty targets while lowering carbon emissions. Demonstrations of these technologies in Europe already exist at industrial scale, and current regulatory frameworks could be adapted to accommodate and promote their use. With the rollout of carbon pricing on imports ...

This study first analyses the existing European security architecture, as it has emerged since World War II. It does so from an organisational perspective, looking at NATO, the OCSE and EU defence policy, as well as from a series of national country perspectives, trying to find underlying motives for national defence policies. After looking at recent policy responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the pivotal years since 2022, five scenarios for a possible future European security architecture ...

Space technologies are playing an increasingly critical role in communications, defence and research. As more satellites are launched, there is a growing risk of collision, and of satellites becoming military targets. Satellite-debris collisions have the potential to destroy not just one or two but many satellites, preventing the use of those orbits for years. Although de-orbiting satellites at a faster pace may be a solution, orbital debris falling back to Earth can cause environmental harm. Europe ...

The 2024 edition of the European Parliament's Academic Freedom Monitor consists of two studies, to be published shortly, with joint key findings and policy options that are summarised in this briefing. The first study, 'Analysis of the state of de facto academic freedom in the EU', examines various measurements of academic freedom across the EU Member States. It also analyses the main threats to academic freedom and their impacts in 10 Member States through a qualitative data analysis, with input ...

Europe could gain competitive edge by supporting the development of new hardware for artificial intelligence (AI). Current state-of-the-art hardware is not optimised for machine learning, and both academic and private sector research is already leading to new designs. At the same time, the need for more time- and energy-efficient machine-learning hardware is increasing as more consumers and companies want access to machine-learning applications. The European Union (EU) has the opportunity to leverage ...

The European electric vehicle (EV) industry is facing fierce competition from China. The question is what this will mean for the future of European EVs. This paper provides an overview of EU-China competition in this industry and presents four scenarios for the future of European EVs by 2030. Will European EVs survive, thrive or perish in the face of Chinese competition and other challenges?

Copper is a relatively common element with a variety of suppliers, and that should typically mean a stable market. However, the copper market has recently been showing unusual instability. New EU legislation, though not always directly related, seems to be having a significant impact on copper prices. This is the case for the Chips Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act – designed to make EU industry more resilient by improving strategic autonomy – but also for laws concerning energy, artificial ...

Electrification is the process of replacing technologies and systems that rely on fossil fuels with those powered by electricity, often sourced from renewable energy. Electrification is gaining momentum across many sectors, including transport, buildings and industry, driven by the EU's climate ambition and security of supply. As the cost of renewable energy technologies like solar and wind continues to fall, electrification presents an opportunity to reshape the European economy, enhancing competitiveness ...

Advances in (neuro)technological development have led to an increase in the use and accessibility of neurotechnologies (NT), allowing brain activity to be recorded, analysed and manipulated by neurotechnological devices. While they were originally used only for clinical purposes, they are becoming more and more attractive for healthy populations willing to enhance their cognitive or physical abilities. Consumer-grade devices can be acquired and used by lay persons without supervision in work, education ...